After not faring well in their two-game road trip west of the Mississippi, the Toronto Maple Leafs return to the Air Canada Center on Saturday to take on the New York Rangers and will likely have another new face in the lineup.
Forward Josh Leivo was recalled on an emergency basis Friday night from the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies to give the club 12 healthy forwards, as Daniel Winnik’s status for Saturday is uncertain after leaving the ice in the first period of Thursday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche on a stretcher.
Winnik was fine following the game after landing awkwardly on his head and shoulder from a check from Avs defenseman Jan Hejda but was not on the ice for the Leafs optional morning skate at Air Canada Center and may be held out of tonight and Sunday’s game in Ottawa for precautionary reasons after being knocked unconscious.
Leivo scored 23 goals in his rookie season with the Marlies and tallied one goal and one assist in a seven-game stint with the Leafs. The Innisfil, ON native has one goal and three assists in eight games for the Leafs AHL affiliate this season. The 21-year-old winger had some impressive moments at training camp in September (including a three point performance in Buffalo) but lost the battle for a roster spot to Brandon Kozun and Carter Ashton because of a foot injury and the fact that he could be demoted without being exposed to waivers.
With both Joffrey Lupul and Winnik out, the addition of Leivo could force another reshuffle of the Leafs forward lines, with veterans Leo Komarov, Mike Santorelli or Richard Panik moving up into a top six role.
Leading scorer Phil Kessel missed some time on Thursday with an undisclosed injury, but returned to the game to assist on Panik’s tying goal. Kessel declined to answer questions about the injury with the media following the game and did not skate at the ACC, but is expected to play.
Jake Gardiner was also injured in Denver on Thursday, suffering a deep bone bruise to his foot blocking a Jarome Iginla shot. It is unknown if the slick-skating defenseman will be out of the lineup, as he participated in Saturday’s morning skate and will be a game-time decision, but his absence could get sophomore blueliner Morgan Rielly back into the lineup after a one-game benching by Leafs coach Randy Carlyle.
The 20-year-old sophomore has been one of the club’s better blueliners through 13 games, but the Leafs coaching staff have seen some bad habits creep into his play recently.
“We felt that Morgan needed to improve in some areas of his game. That’s as plain as I can say it,… Carlyle said on Thursday. “We think there’s more for Morgan to give, and Morgan’s got to use his skating ability to play the game to a higher level.…
Jonathan Bernier made 31 stops in the loss to the Avalanche and is expected to get the start against the Rangers. With back-to-back weekend games, Sens nemesis James Reimer will likely get the start Sunday in Kanata in the makeup of the postponed October 15th contest. Reimer has a 9-2-1 career record vs Ottawa, with a sparkling 1.98 GAA and .944 save percentage.
The Rangers are in third place in the Metropolitan Division with 14 points(6-4-2) and have endured a significant depletion to their blueline, with Ryan McDonagh out with a separated shoulder, John Moore still serving a five-game suspension and veteran Dan Boyle still recovering from a broken hand. Kevin Klein and forward Mats Zuccarello returned to the lineup on Thursday in New York’s 4-3 overtime victory over Detroit.
The club is expected to get center Derek Stepan back on Saturday after missing the first 12 games with a broken fibula and will start backup Cam Talbot in goal. Rangers starter Henrik Lundqvist was pulled after allowing six goals on 24 shots in the 6-3 Leafs victory in New York on October 12 in favor of Talbot, who did not allow a goal for the rest of the game. The Caledonia, ON native stymied Toronto twice last season, allowing only two goals in wins at Madison Square Garden on December 23 and Air Canada Center on January 4.
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